Inquest to be held into deaths of Doomadgee women

A coronial inquest will be held into the deaths of three women from the Indigenous community of Doomadgee in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

A CORONIAL inquest will be held into the deaths of three women from the Indigenous community of Doomadgee in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

The women – Yvette “Betty” Booth, 18, Adele “Sandy” Diamond, 37, and Shakaya George, 17 – all died from Rheumatic Heart Disease or the consequences and complications of RHD or Acute Rheumatic Fever and its treatment, a Coroners Court of Queensland spokesman said.

The Coroners Court of Queensland has confirmed the inquest into the deaths will occur in Cairns on July 18, presided over by Northern Coroner for Queensland, Magistrate Nerida Wilson.

“The Coroner recognises that RHD is 100 per cent preventable and is almost exclusively a disease of poverty and social disadvantage,” the CCQ spokesman said.

“Indigenous Queenslanders have a prevalence of RHD 582 times higher than other people living in Queensland.

“An inquest, the culmination of a two-year coronial investigation … will examine the circumstances of each of these deaths, the adequacy of the care and treatment received, and any missed opportunities generally for the prevention and awareness of RHD / ARF.”

The spokesman said the Coroner would then determine if recommendations can be made that will prevent deaths from happening in similar circumstances in the future.

Originally published as Inquest to be held into deaths of Doomadgee women